The Dig Site

Just outside Fellville, a group of ruins can be found. There are covers over them to protect the dig site from the weather, and tents are pitched around the perimeter. Strings of magical lights hang from the canopies over the ruins, bathing the area in a soft golden light. They twinkle like fireflies, winking occasionally as the magic that powers them fluctuates in power. They're only as steady as the concentration of their creator.

Beneath the tents, archways mark a path to the remains of a temple; blue crystals inlaid in the arches glow faintly in the darkness, helping to light the way to it. Strange markings are carved into the temple walls, an old dialect of the Sols, telling of a long-forgotten and dead god of theirs. He was the god of creation, predating Carderan.

It's unknown what happened to this god, as there are few records of his existence. What little is written about him only says that he created everything; it wasn't the current pantheons that created the world and everything in it. His name was Polthis.

The temple may hold secrets and treasures, but there's only one way to find out.

Acquisition:

The party hears about the dig and a professor who needs assistance dealing with undead that keep rising at the dig site. They arrive at the site to find the professor covered head to toe in dust and dirt from digging, a Sol with tanned skin from working in the sun day in and day out. He looks tired, worn down from the constant barrage of undead that have hounded him and his staff. They hired mercenaries to guard them, but they recently left them on their own, swearing that the place was cursed. He offers the party a pretty sum of gold to guard him and his staff while they finish the dig.

Right on cue, undead crawl out of the ground and attack.

The Temple:

Inside the ruins of the stone temple, bronze reliefs of the dead god can be found scattered over the walls. They tell the story of how the world was made, the ancient script describing each step of the process. He started with night and day, then the world itself, and finally the life that would populate it.

After looking at the reliefs, the first round of undead will pull themselves from beneath the ground, clawing their way out and staggering towards the party and the professor. After they're dealt with, the party can explore the room further and find that the altar can be moved to open a passage. It's heavy, but not impossible. The party and the professor head down the stairs and find themselves in a room filled with relics of the bronze era. At one end of the room stands a sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus will open the moment someone touches something in the room, and an ancient high priest will emerge. Elsewhere in the room, others will crack open, and more undead priests will rise to fight the party.

Resolution:

• The priest is a powerful caster and will primarily use utility spells to hamper the party while the rest of the undead do the bulk of the damage. The party must kill them, again.

Rewards:

• After the party kills the priests, the professor will go through the treasure and offer magic artifacts to the party members as thanks. They will likely be weapons and armor over amulets and rings. He will also offer the coin he initially promised them on top of the few artifacts he and the university would be willing to part with.

Backdrops

Locations

South of Fellville

Threats

• Undead priests, melee

• The high priest, caster

Genre:

• Adventure

Triggers:

• None